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How do you know it was not a wrap? Several guys in my club have complety wrapped their cars and you would be hard pressed to tell it was not paint. The wheels could be easily sprayed with that new ruberized coating that is completly reversable as well.

How do you know it was not a wrap? Several guys in my club have complety wrapped their cars and you would be hard pressed to tell it was not paint. The wheels could be easily sprayed with that new ruberized coating that is completly reversable as well.

One of the guy working at the dealer told me it was sprayed at their paint shop.

My impressions are:
1) From the dash color, the car was originally silver/sport red and is now dark gray/sport red.
2) The standard wheels were painted gloss black.
3) The chrome mirror, side vents, exhaust tips and door handles were painted flat black.
4) The exterior has a more modern "stealth-like" appearance with the black and gray painting, but the throw back charm that I like is missing along with the chrome bits. I'm with you on the black rims. Most importantly, I hope the owner enjoys the transformation of his Z8, which must have been expensive to complete and likely will hurt the vehicle's resale value.

I'm not sure I agree. If done right, the owner used new chrome parts to paint black (vents, wheels, mirrors, exhaust tips, etc.). I've done this on all of my mods...original pieces removed and stored. This way the car can be put back to original condition, should future buyers desire.

On the paint, color change is not uncommon in the collector market. The key to maintain value (as it has been explained to me by) when changing color is 1) have it done by true pros, and 2) only change to a period/make correct color. Marty's told me about all the color changing that happens in the SL market, and even hot rods. If it's a "right" color...no harm to value, assuming it's a good choice. I fully expect to see more Z8s change colors as they need to be refreshed from two decades on the road. So long as you change to a BMW color from say the late 90s to the mid 2000s. I've got my eye on Alpina Blue.

Low quality phone pics make it difficult to tell. Could this be Sterling or Space gray? I think you could get a pass on that change.

Sure, shrink-wrapped low-mileage cars will likely far better in all original condition, but for drivers, make it yours.

I agree with you Rifle, but that really applies to the true vintage cars. I think right now this is a one way ticket to financial pain if the owner wanted to sell it.

Personally, I really hate the changes. I generally don't like the blacked out look thats become popular, though there are always exceptions. I really don't like it when someone blacks out the bright work on a car that never had it from the factory, and I don't think these changes suit the Z8. Also as Ed points out you can tell it was silver, and I would have also had them do the interior trim which now doesn't match. I also agree with Andrew that the exterior color is probably too dark.

Of course, to each their own and if the owner is happy then thats all that really matters.

I was at a stoplight by a busy freeway, and this skinny, bedraggled kid (no more than 16) was running in the crosswalk in front of me trying to beat the light. He suddenly stopped in front of my car and looked at me and said, "Wow this looks like is was designed like one of those 50's English sports cars." Can't beat moments like that, when somebody born in the 90's that looks so totally unaware immediately recognizes timelessness. Color and details are important.

If I had been in the car in the pictures, the kid would never had stopped. The owner may not care, but it was an encounter I appreciated and was glad not to miss.

I think that that is a case of same plate being on two different cars, because the instrument cluster on the black car is also black, that is not something you'd not really expect to see get done on a respray.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.